


Mind Games

by CatSamwise



Series: Lightning Over Dromund Kaas [4]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/M, Mind Games, Romance, Shadow of Raven, anxity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-05 11:41:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5374019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatSamwise/pseuds/CatSamwise
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dealing with Sith is never easy, whether one’s Force-blind or Sith themselves… </p><p>Spoilers for <i>Shadow of Raven</i>. Part of the <i>Lightning Over Dromund Kaas</i> series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Before

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place in the year 3639 BBY.
> 
> Beta-d by Uruni.

_A galaxy. It was spinning its endless spiral in the eternal skies. Then, blackness._

_The blackness spread from the center to eat away at the endless light._

_A moon, falling apart from the heat of its sun._

_The star beginning to fade, its fire snuffed with the ease of breath on a candle._

_A city, its building tall, but its streets are empty._

_Not empty. The streets are full of the dead._

The vision focuses. 

_Malavai!_

_His body is thrown on the ground. There is no rise and fall to his chest. His features are frozen with the stillness of death._

_Her own body lying beside him._

_There is no life, only death._

Eshosria surfaced from her meditation to find her heart racing and her limbs trembling. It took her a few moments to ground herself.

Finally, she looked up to see her bed, their bed, tidy and neat in the middle of their room on the _Fury_. She was safe. No suns, no moons, no cities.

Malavai!

She scrambled to her feet, hurriedly adjusted her outer robe and almost ran out of the room.

She found him in the first place she looked – in the cockpit, going over a report or some calculations. 

It was of no consequences. She pulled his chair roughly back and threw herself into his arms.

She felt Malavai startle at being so abruptly pulled away from his work, but when he realized it was her, he put his arms around her and squeezed her to him.

A moment passed and he asked softly into her hair, “What’s wrong?”

Eshosria lifted her head from his chest, having managed to regain a semblance of control after breathing in his scent. But once she looked on his face, in his eyes, so concerned, so _alive_ , she found she couldn’t speak. Her vision returned to her momentarily, his dead eyes open, looking at her unseeing.

She surged forward and kissed him. 

The feel of his breath on her face, his taste in her mouth, his arms tightening even further around her, it was all she could do not to sob her relief.

When they eventually broke apart, Malavai caressed the side of her face. “I have never seen you so distressed.”

Eshosria took his face in both her hands and forced herself to look him in the eye. “I need you to promise me something.”

“What is it, my love?”

“I want you to promise me that you will sacrifice every single man under your command before you ever let anything harm you. Promise me!” Her yellow eyes burned into his blue, as he registered her demand.

Malavai pulled her face towards his and kissed her lightly on her lips. 

“What happened?” he whispered when they broke apart.

Eshosria buried her face in his chest. “I had a dream, a vision. You were dead.”

Malavai exhaled slowly and after a moment pushed at her until she slid from his lap. He immediately stood after her. He took her hand and started to lead her away from the cockpit.

“Where are we going?” Eshosria asked, fallowing him.

“This is a serious matter,” he answered. “It should be discussed seriously.”

Malavai led her to the conference room, only to find that it was not empty. 

Vette and Broonmark were in the middle of a heated discussion regarding the value of some sample Broonmark had found and where it could be possibly sold. Both of them looked up when Eshosria and Malavai entered.

“Whoa,” Vette was the first to speak. “You look like Jaesa that time she tried exoboar soup.”

Malavai helped Eshosria into a chair. He himself stayed standing.

“I had a vision,” Eshosria answered, her voice sounding drained to her own ears. “There was a galaxy neighboring our own, and then… nothing.

“Every star went dim, both in that galaxy and our own. The end of everything.”

“See? Probably just something you ate. Maybe? I hope?” It was no surprise Vette tried to make light of the matter.

“Another galaxy?” Malavai spoke up, his voice full of wonder. “Would you say it was a dwarf galaxy?” 

Eshsoria smiled weakly at him. “A dwarf galaxy sounds right. What do you know?”

“There is such a galaxy off the Outer Rim, known as the Rishi Maze.” 

“Rishi? I’ve heard of Rishi,” Vette injected, her voice dreamy. “It’s a planet. Some kind of pirate resort? Sounds like a real dive. I’ve kinda always wanted to go.”

“ _We get strange datamails from Rishi. We do not ask for them. Offers of free travel_ ,” Broonmark added as well.

Eshosria’s head started to ache. The combined impact of the vision, her stress and these new developments was beginning to affect her. She rubbed the sides of her temple. “You’ve started receiving these recently?”

“ _Yes. Sith understands. And there is no sender_.”

“Quinn,” she lifted her head to look at him. “Set a course. We’re going to Rishi.”

He allowed himself to touch lightly on her shoulder, as reassurance. She nodded, he bowed and left. 

Vette reached out for her hand across the table. “Esh, are you OK?”

Eshosria shook her head and smiled. Her headache was starting to ease, now that she was following as the Force directed. “I’ll be fine.”

She never once forgot he had not made her that promise.


	2. During

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-d by Uruni.  
>  
> 
> **Warning: Mature sexual content.**

Theron whipped his sweaty palms on his trouser legs as he walked the corridors of their base at the edge of Raider’s Cove.

That Sith had been driving him off his head.

She’d been flirtatious from the start, even before he’d actually seen her, back on Manaan. And now, on Rishi, once they started to work together closely… 

He couldn’t get her out of his thoughts. He recalled how her beautiful yellow eyes shone when she looked at him, or how a mischievous smile tugged the corners of her lush lips.

She was about to go find the Mandalorian, Torch. The Wrath had caught his arm at the end of their briefing with Lana and had asked him to come to her room later, to discuss strategy. She was shorter than him, but her body radiated heat that made his own feel inflamed. Her breath tickled his neck as she spoke. There was no doubt to the true meaning of her request. 

His evening went by in a daze. He hadn’t even noticed what the others were doing. And now, he was wandering the corridors, trying to determine which room was actually hers.

They had occupied an abandoned building, with a big conference room on the first floor and several rooms on the second. Some of their crew had opted to bunk on the ground floor, which had turned out to be a blessing, considering both Jakarro and the Wrath’s Talz snored like a horde of banthas. The others had dispersed through the second floor, and Theron really didn’t want to accidentally walk in on the Wrath’s creepy apprentice. 

Eventually, he found what he hoped would be the right room. There was light streaming from under the door. He knocked and waited.

“Enter,” a male voice called from within.

Had he mistaken the room after all? There was nothing Theron could do about it at that point. So he pushed at the door and stepped inside.

The space within appeared to be slightly larger than the rest of the rooms he’d seen on that floor. It was divided in the middle by a large curtain, presumably concealing the bed and refresher area. In front of the curtain was a large desk strewed with datapads and some chairs. 

Captain Malavai Quinn, the Wrath’s second in command, was standing at the side of the table with one of the datapads in his hands. He was glaring at Theron.

“Um,” Theron hesitated. “I’m looking for the Wrath?”

Quinn nodded once. “This is her room, but she has retired for tonight.”

“I see.” The situation was awkward. Theron felt that he should retreat and regroup, but something was preventing him from moving.

Before he had time to make up his mind, the curtain parted and the Wrath stepped through.

Theron’s mouth went dry at the sight of her. He had never seen her out of armor, but there she was, wearing a sleeping gown made of shimmery grey material that clung to her frame. The gown was sleeveless, with only thin straps holding it in place on her shoulders. The material just barely covered her breasts and hugged the curves of her body, tantalizing in its premise of her full form, so ready to be revealed. The Wrath’s hair was loose, falling softly down her back, framing her delicate features.

The Wrath stepped behind the desk and tilted her head to look at her captain. “Isn’t it time, for you to retire as well?” she said, her voice low.

“Of course, my lord,” Quinn answered primly. Theron had forgotten he was there. The Imperial shot Theron another withering glare, and to Theron’s immense surprise, instead of going towards him to exit the room, Quinn ducked behind the curtain.

Theron dismissed the captain from his mind the moment the Wrath turned her gaze towards him. “Theron,” she said with a smile, her voice sultry. “I’m so glad you came.”

“Yes, Wrath…” Theron started to say.

“Surely you can call me ‘Eshosria’, when we’re in private,” she interrupted him immediately. She placed both her hands on the desk in front of her, squeezing her breasts together, which accentuated the cleavage of her gown, and made one of the straps slide down her shoulder, revealing more of her perfect round breast.

Theron had difficulty tearing his eyes from the lustrous flesh being revealed, but he somehow managed to drag his eyes back to her face, to find her smiling at him, her head tilted to the side, her eyes sparkling.

But again, they were disturbed. 

Quinn re-entered the space through the curtain. He had discarded his uniform jacket and now wore only the uniform trousers and a simple shirt. He advanced until he came to stand directly behind the Wrath and placed both his hands on her arms.

The Wrath angled her head up and backwards to look at the captain, the smile never leaving her face.

Some distant part of Theron’s brain commented that Quinn had an unimpeded view of the Wrath’s cleavage. The rest of Theron’s brain shouted out in alarm. Every single danger signal was screaming for him to get the blazes out of that room.

Theron mumbled something and backtracked to the door and out. The couple inside did not pay him any heed.

Malavai lowered his head so he could speak directly into Eshosria’s ear. “What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed.

Eshosria shrugged, her eyes sparkling dangerously. 

The motion of her shoulders made the second strap slide from her shoulder as well. Malavai moved his hands from her arms and the gown simply slipped from her frame. She was naked underneath.

Malavai’s hands rubbed her back from shoulder to tight, shapely buttocks, almost from their own accord. Seri smirked back at him.

Her self-satisfied expression, combined with the raging anger and possessiveness burning through him at the same time, made something snap inside him. He placed his hand on her back and pushed her forwards until she was bent over her own desk. He pressed against her rear, to make her spread her stance. He fumbled with his pants to free himself and in another moment was inside her.

Fortunately, no preparations were needed, she was ready for him. Malavai held leaned on his hand on her back, then moved to hold on to her hips, rocking her further into the desk. Grunting at the sensation of her around him. 

He barely registered her pushing backwards toward his thrust. But her cries of pleasure fueled his own. He leaned over her, mouthing along her spine, worrying the spot where shoulder met neck with his teeth. 

Before long, she was spasming under him. He grabbed her arms to hold her steady and thrust harder, until his own vision went white with release.

Malavai rested his forehead on Eshosria’s back, while regaining his breathing. Sweat was dripping from him to pool in the small of her back. Her own skin was shining with perspiration, muscles flexing in the aftermath of their coupling. 

Finally, he lifted off her. His hands made another trace of her back. He could never tire of touching her. 

His eyes traveled the dips and curves of her gorgeous frame and came to rest on her neck. Immediately, he recoiled as if stunned.

There was a small bruise beginning to form at the base of her neck. Malavai only vaguely remembered biting her. It was not his place to mark her like that. The dawning realization that he had been out of line in his behavior made him forget all the pleasure he had had only moments before.

Eshsoria, in the meantime, had lifted from her desk and stretched luxuriously. She then turned around to face him. She was smiling, clearly content.

Malavai regarded her in silence, unsure how to proceed. 

His wife stretched one more time, perched on her desk and pulled at him until he was standing between her thighs. Seri tucked him in and straightened his clothes, then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a leisurely kiss. 

Malavai’s hands came to rest at her sides. Clearly, she had been pleased, but he was still confused of everything that has occurred.

When they broke apart he asked, “What is happening?”

Seri laughed softly, her eyes sparkling in amusement. “Sometimes I’d like you to be more _assertive_. It doesn’t come naturally to you, so I had to, shall we say, encourage the situation.”

“Ah, I see,” Malavai breathed. “Did you alter my mind?”

“Of course not,” Seri scoffed. “I would never do something like that.”

Malavai allowed himself a small smile. “What then?”

“Well…” Seri shrugged and looked at him from under her lashes, obviously flirtatious. “I made you jealous using Theron. And I made sure Theron wouldn’t balk by reinforcing my suggestions in his mind, making him ignore all evidence to the contrary.”

“You just said you hadn’t used mind tricks,” Malavai admonished her lightly, placing a kiss at the tip of her nose. It was actually quiet reassuring to know she hadn’t been really interested in the agent. And that his outright glaring and menacing when the other man was about had only been ignored because of Seri’s intervention.

“I wouldn’t ever use mind control on you,” his wife clarified, giving him a clear look to indicate how serious she was. 

“What’s the difference?” Malavai asked. His fingers started to caress Seri’s sides, acutely aware how naked she was, and how dressed he was, in his turn.

“You are the man I love. He is a Republic idiot that will become expandable the moment this whole fiasco is over.”

Malavai took Seri fully into his arms, bringing her flush against his chest. His lips kissed her shoulder, until he reached the mark he’d made, which made him stop.

Seri had thrown her head back to allow him more access, she lifted her head when he stopped. “You’re still apprehensive,” she said. “Tell you what, when this is all over we’ll kill Theron. What do you say?”

This suggestion made Malavai laugh. “That won’t be necessary.” He decided that a little kolto would take care of the bruise, and put it out of his mind. “If I went around killing every man and woman that found you attractive, you would never have an apprentice and the Imperial forces would be decimated.”

It was Seri’s turn to laugh. But she stopped abruptly, as Malavai sneaked his hands to her buttocks and lifted her off the table. “What are you doing?” she demanded, more startled than angry.

“It has been brought to my attention that I am required to become more assertive,” Malavai answered deadpan. “I shall endeavor to comply. But clearly some practice is required.”

If Seri had any answer to make it was drowned by his demanding lips on hers, as he took them both through the curtain and to their bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some time ago there was considerable influx of stories about the Warrior with Theron Shan. _Someone_ had to defend Quinn in this whole thing. Allow me to take up the mantle *grins*


	3. After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-d by Uruni.

_Wrath._

Dinner. They were having dinner.

Eshosria found that she had to remind herself every few minutes where she was and what she was doing.

She was on her _Fury_. All of her crew was sitting around their table; Malavai was to her right, Vette to her left, Pierce in front of her, Jaesa between Pierce and Malavai, and Broonmark between Vette and Pierce. Malavai’s left hand was on her knee, his thumb rubbing her leg in small circles. It was highly likely that he didn’t even know he was doing this, as he was so engaged in his argument with Vette. 

The food was long since finished. The others were arguing about the merit of enslaving the Rishi sector. Malavai was obviously _pro_ , and Vette _con_. Pierce had taken up Vette’s side of the argument and Jaesa – Malavai’s. Broonmark was making bubbling noises which Eshosria identified as chuckles, he was probably acting as referee.

It was an old pass time for the crew. Malavai and Vette could argue about anything, and Jaesa and Pierce goaded them on for the amusement of everyone involved. Eshosria usually liked their arguments (the sillier the better, there was the one time they spent two hours “debating” the least useful plant variety). Sometimes she even made them switch sides in the middle, they were the best ones – those arguments were usually decided by whoever managed to get the rest to finally break out in laughter. 

Besides, when Malavai lost, he’d come to their room agitated and she’d take extreme delight in reducing him to an incoherent pleasure heap. As for when he won, well then he was ever so generous, and she would be the one babbling nonsense by the time he had finished with her.

But Eshosria could not concentrate on them, could not understand their arguments, could not even hear the words they were saying.

She was grateful for Malavai’s hand on her knee. That small point of contact, sending small flashes of sensation, it was helping her keep a little focus.

Her mind kept returning to Yavin four.

_You are special to me._

The madness of the Imperial Guards. She could still hear their voices in her head, chanting the end of the galaxy in honor of the Emperor.

The Emperor’s temple with its traps and labyrinths. It shouldn’t be anything unusual, she had walked through hundreds other lost palaces, had solved countless other puzzles, had killed thousands of other minions. And yet that temple haunted her dreams. She continued walking its murky corridors even hundreds parsecs away.

The ghost of Revan. Talking to her of peace and of acceptance, trying to _guide_ her way, gullible and moronic, like the rest of the Jedi. Eshosria’s skin crawled with revulsion just thinking of the pathetic once-man.

The alliance, the impossible truce between the Empire and the Republic. Darth Marr and Grand Master Shan standing at either sides of a table talking strategy and sense to a world gone mad. In the security of their tent, Malavai had whispered to her that the end of days was coming if such a thing had really occurred. She wondered whether that was indeed what happened. 

Revan the man. He was as mad as the rest of them. He saw himself as the gallant savior and talked of revenge in the same breath, power mad and arrogant to the last. At least defeating him had been a satisfying feat. 

And finally, herself. She was the Wrath. She was the strong one, the one to lead them all, the one who won the day. Why did she feel so small? Why was she so lost?

_That is why I will kill you last._

Dinner. The _Fury_. Safety.

At least for now.

Eshosria shook herself from her own thoughts for the hundredth time that evening. 

The others were still engaged in the argument. Jaesa was stifling giggles behind her hand, Pierce was wearing a huge grin, Malavai and Vette were glaring at each other, as always completely unaware.

Nausea overcame her. She couldn’t sit still any longer.

Keeping her stomach under control through sheer force of will, Eshosria removed Malavai’s hand from her knee delicately. Her husband hadn’t even noticed, so consumed was he with his argument. She made a mumbled excuse, saw Jaesa give her a nod and slipped away from her seat and the table.

She made her way from the mess to her room. Once inside, she leaned against the closed door and breathed hard. She felt like she escaped some horrible beast, like she had been running and now she was safe. Her mind provided her with ridiculous images. She was in her _home_ , she was safe.

Nothing could make her relax or stop the goosebumps from raising on her skin.

Perhaps a shower would help.

Eshosria shed her cloths and left them in a pile of the floor, right where she stood. Malavai hated for their room to be untidy, and usually she accommodated him but at that moment she didn’t care. She needed to be out of her clothes and under the water and just couldn’t be bothered.

She entered the refresher, turned on the shower and stood under the blessed spray of the water. Soon enough the whole room was full of steam, she couldn’t even see the door.

Moment by painful moment her muscles started to relax. Her breathing evened out. Standing rigidly under the water, she closed her eyes and saw only black. 

No more images, no more thoughts running so fast she couldn’t keep track.

Blessed silence.

Eshosria let herself stand in the hot spray for a few more moments, cherishing the quiet.

Eventually, she turned the water off.

_Wrath. You are special to me. That is why I will kill you last._

The words of the Emperor whispered in her mind and would not let her go.

Eshosria stood in front of the mirror in the refresher, studying her naked body.

Her fingers ghosted over her belly.

It was too early to show. So very early. 

She hadn’t told anyone, not even Malavai. But she didn’t need fancy and complicated tests, she knew, she had felt.

Eshosria looked her reflection in the eyes, her fingers splayed on her flat stomach.

_Not if I kill you first._

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do review it always makes me smile :)
> 
> Also, bonus content is available upon request *grins*


End file.
